REVIEW   

Minerva Medicolegale 2017 December;137(4):83-91

DOI: 10.23736/S0026-4849.17.01769-2

Copyright © 2017 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Condylar fractures: legal aspects

Marco BRADY BUCCI ¹ ✉, Maria S. RINI ², Jacopo M. VALENTI ¹

¹ G. Marconi University, Rome, Italy; ² Discipline Odontostomatologiche, Bologna University, Bologna, Italy

The purpose of this review was to analyze and synthesize the current knowledge in condylar fracture diagnosis, classifications, and clinical treatment, in order to provide legal medicine specialists with guidelines for an effective evaluation and management of condylar fractures. The review focuses on condylar fractures and temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) correlated to them. Based on modern anatomy and physiology, the evaluation process is aimed at rediscovering the key role of medical semeiotics, where the diagnosis is pursued by different, combinable threads of medical investigation, thus leading to an objective and consistent evaluation. We hereby propose a model of reference in the form of an evaluation chart, designed in agreement with the current knowledge of TMD diagnosis and classification. We hope that such a tool can replace obsolete systems, which have grown more and more unfit for the current requirements of legal medicine.

KEY WORDS: Mandibular condyle - Bone fractures - Diagnostic.